Director of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the School of Medicine Bengt Arnetz, M.D., worked with a team of researchers at the Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University in Sweden on the study, which found that radiofrequency released from mobile phones appeared to cause insomnia, headaches and difficulties in concentration.

During an 18-month period, the researchers studied 35 men and 36 women between the ages of 18 and 45. Dr. Arnetz said all participants were compared when they either were exposed to radiofrequency of 884 MHz wireless signals or no exposure to radiofrequency at all. All 71 participants were exposed to both conditions at different times.

Dr. Arnetz, who spoke to BBC News, said, "The ones who were exposed reported headaches, it took longer for them to fall asleep and they did not sleep as well through the night.

“If you have trouble sleeping, you should think about not talking on a mobile phone right before you go to bed. The study strongly suggests that mobile phone use is associated with specific changes in the areas of the brain responsible for activating and coordinating the stress system," said Dr. Arnetz.

“Inadequate sleep or non-restful sleep can be related to many chronic health conditions, including hypertension, obesity and diabetes,” said Dr. Joseph Dunbar, associate vice president for Research at Wayne State University. “Dr. Arnetz’s international collaboration may also be a key to a growing number of health problems people encounter, particularly in teenagers whose cell phone usage is high, and sleep is so critical for peak performance in school and other activities.”

For more information on this study, please contact the Wayne State University School of Medicine Office of Public Affairs at 313-577-9098.

Associate Professor Jason H. Mateika, Ph.D., of the Department of Physiology and Internal Medicine in the School of Medicine, was recently awarded $1.5 million from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

His grant, “Impact of Intermittent Hypoxia on Ventilatory Drive and Apnea Severity,” will investigate sleep apnea, a  sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep.

Individuals afflicted with sleep apnea have periodic episodes throughout the night when they stop breathing for ten seconds or more. In some sufferers, the number breathing pauses may increases during the course of the night.

Dr. Mateika’s funded investigation will examine whether the increase in the number of times breathing stops over the course of the night is caused by a change in the function of a chemoreceptor that responds to decreases in oxygen levels.

“My study will also examine whether increases in oxidative stress which occurs during exposure to periodic decreases in oxygen levels is in part responsible for changes in chemoreceptor function,” said Dr. Mateika.

“According to the National Institutes of Health, over 12 million people are afflicted with sleep apnea,” said Dr. Joseph Dunbar, associate vice president for Research at Wayne State University. “Even more alarming is that many of those with sleep apnea are never diagnosed. Left untreated, sleep apnea can increase the chance of having high blood pressure, a heart attack or stroke. Sleep apnea is also associated with an increased risk of diabetes, weight gain, impotency, and headaches. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to memory lapses that may be responsible for work-related accidents and motor vehicle crashes. It is my hope that Dr. Mateika’s research will raise awareness of sleep apnea, and someday find effective new treatments for individuals suffering with this disease.”

Dr. Mateika, of West Bloomfield, will collaborate with Safwan Badr, M.D., associate department chair of Internal Medicine, and Dorothy Lee, M.S.N. of the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center. Dr. Mateika joined the faculty in 2002.

Eleven students from the Wayne State University School of Medicine attended the 29th annual American Medical Association’s Interim Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, representing the School, Wayne County and Michigan.

The School of Medicine contingent consisted of students from the executive board, the AMA-Wayne County Medical Society student body, AMA national committees and from the State Governing Council. The students who attended the Nov. 7-10, 2007 conference included Pamella Abghari, Lisa Walker, Andy Moriarity, Jeanise Gorenchan, Rodney Faulkiner, Catherine Wheatley, Ryan George, Daniel King, Anthony Livorine, Mary Jacob and Kristin Ophaug.

"We were greeted with different opportunities to meet medical students and current physicians from all over, and to catch some really interesting speakers and presentations," said Ms. Abghari, AMA chapter president. "I also had the chance to share with our region this year's successful recruitment, future and past events, and our current community service endeavors."

The students had the opportunity to attend the seminars that interested them.

Ms. Abghari submitted a resolution about the handling of patients’ healthcare records, and discussed the issue with medical students from other states.

Mr. King, a national representative, served as chair of the Committee of Scientific Issues for the AMA. He put together a poster presentation competition to highlight student research from all over the United States.

Attendees also sat in on meetings about leadership and recruitment, learned about healthcare practices in Hawaii, gained more details surrounding the Covering the Uninsured Mission, and shared personal experiences about serving minorities in Detroit during a meeting about Minority Health and Health Disparities.

"We all came out together, on top, as a team," said Ms. Abghari. "We are now stronger, smarter, and wiser, with all new information and opportunities to share with our colleagues and peers."

Ms. Abghari thanked the Wayne County Medical Society and the Michigan State Medical Society for supporting the group at the meeting and for "trusting us with the mission of spreading the word about healthcare in Detroit and for discovering new ways to improve our current program."

Wayne State University School of Medicine researchers helped determine that a genetic condition associated with an increased risk of heart attack can also be a prime indicator of aneurysms.

Aneurysms are a ballooning of arteries in the abdomen or head that are potentially lethal if they are left untreated and burst.

The study, published in the online edition of Nature Genetics (www.nature.com/ng) this week, determined that people who inherit the gene code from one parent are 30 percent more likely to have an aneurysm. Those who inherit the condition from both parents are 70 percent more likely to suffer an aneurysm.

The finding could lead to earlier testing and treatment for people prone to developing aneurysms.

Wayne State University School of Medicine Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics researchers Helena Kuivaniemi and Gerard Tromp have been studying aneurysms for 15 years, and worked with deCODE, a biopharmaceutical company that applies discoveries in genetics to the development of drugs and diagnostics for diseases. The deCODE team includes academic researchers from Iceland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and other sites in the U.S., including WSUSOM.

More than 200 Wayne State University-affiliated physicians were named to the 2007-2008 Best Doctors in America list by Best Doctors Inc. Congratulations to all who were recognized by their peers as experts in their individual fields.

Best Doctors in America^® 2007-2008
Wayne State University Affiliated physicians

• Gyula Acsadi
• Joshua Adler
• Nelia M. Afonso
• George J. Alangaden
• Ayad Al-Katib
• Joel L. Appel
• Eric Wynton Ayers
• M. Safwan Badr
• John D. Baker
• Jeffrey David Band
• Geoffrey Barger
• Daniel G. Batton
• Robert L. Begle
• Elissa P. Benedek
• Ronald M. Benson
• Anatole Besarab
• Kostaki Bis
• Evan H. Black
• Charla Marie Blacker
• Jason Howard Bodzin
• Dennis I. Bojrab
• Beth Ann Brooks
• Morris Brown
• Patricia Diane Brown
• Lynette Brown
• Manuel L. Brown
• O. William Brown
• Robert Burack
• Pravit Cadnapaphornchai
• Charles T. Cash, Jr.
• Pranatharthi Chandrasekar
• Thomas A. Chapel
• Seemant Chaturvedi
• Laurence Y. Cheung
• Meera B. Chitlur
• Gary Chodoroff
• C. Edward Coffey
• Jonathan A. Cohn
• Christine H. Comstock
• William Morris Coplin
• Lawrence R. Crane
• John D. Crissman
• Leon A. Crumley
• Brent Norman Davidson
• David A. Decker
• Virginia Delaney-Black
• Stephen P. DeSilva
• Jeffrey M. Devries
• Michael P. Diamond
• Fernando G. Diaz
• Mitchell P. Dombrowski
• Thomas F. Downham II
• Michael S. Doyle
• John Richard (Jack) Ebright
• Murray N. Ehrinpreis
• Michael Eichenhorn
• Leopoldo Eisenberg
• Maury R. Ellenberg
• Bassel F. El-Rayes
• Paul H. Ernest
• Stephen I. Field
• Howard S. Fischer
• John M. Flack
• Lawrence E. Flaherty
• Joseph A. Fontana
• Kathleen Fulgenzi
• James Yee Garbern
• Julius M. Gardin
• Steven R. Geiringer
• John William Gilkey
• Kenneth A. Ginsburg
• Charles G. Godoshian
• Bernard Gonik
• Stuart C. Gordon
• Adam B. Greenbaum
• George Grunberger
• James P. Gutai
• Murali Guthikonda
• John Haapaniemi
• Khatchadour Hamamdjian
• Walid Harb
• Sabrina Marie Heidemann
• Raymond D. Hobbs
• Lawrence J. Horn
• Stephen C. Hyman
• Susumu Inoue
• John R. Jacobs
• Samuel C. Johnson
• Mark Juzych
• Deepak Kamat
• John Kamholz
• Kastytis C. Karvelis
• Mark A. Kelley
• Dana G. Kissner
• Sambasiva R. Kottamasu
• Manus Krasman
• Willane Krell
• Steven M. Kreshover
• Omer Kucuk
• Alan Kwaselow
• Myron M. LaBan
• Chitranjan Lall
• Michael J. LaRouere
• Carl B. Lauter
• Anna M. Ledgerwood
• Jimmie P. Leleszi
• William Leuchter
• Diane L. Levine
• Donald P. Levine
• Peter A. LeWitt
• Jun Li
• Henry W. Lim
• Robert P. Lisak
• Peter J. Littrup
• Jeffrey Arlin Loeb
• Jeanne M. Lusher
• Michael E. Maddens
• M. Jeffrey Maisels
• John Malone, Jr.
• Kathleen A. Mammel
• Marvin O. Margolis
• Giancarlo Mari
• Tej K. Mattoo
• Mark L. McDermott
• Kathleen L. Meert
• Michael J. Mendelow
• Robert M. Mentzer, Jr.
• Duane Mezwa
• Panayiotis Mitsias
• Edwin M. Monsell
• Michael P. Mott
• Sami Mounayer
• Milton Mutchnick
• Sam Nasser
• Paul Christopher Nehra
• Frank A. Nesi
• Daniel Seth Newman
• Steven Ernst Nickoloff
• Kevin John Nurmi
• David E. Obudzinski
• Vidya Pai
• Suresh C. Patel
• Philip Philip
• Bohdan Pichurko
• John Popovich, Jr.
• Isaac Powell
• Ashok R. Prasad
• Madhvi N. Rajpurkar
• Voravit Ratanatharathorn
• Shiva Shankar Rau
• Korembeth P. Ravikrishnan
• Yaddanapudi Ravindranath
• Murray Rebner
• Thomas W. Riggs
• Mary Roberts
• Robert S. Robertson
• David Rodgers
• David R. Rosenberg
• Howard Seeman Rosman
• Marla Rowe Gorosh
• James Andrew Rowley
• Todd D. Rozen
• John C. Ruckdeschel
• Earl Jerome Rudner
• Louis D. Saravolatz
• Ashok P. Sarnaik
• Sharada Sarnaik
• Maryjean Schenk
• Charles A. Schiffer
• Howard Schubiner
• Claudio D. Schuger
• Lori A. Schuh
• Kendra Schwartz
• Michael D. Seidman
• Joel C. Seidman
• Aashit K. Shah
• Seetha Shankaran
• Rhonna Shatz
• Anthony Shields
• Michael E. Shy
• Mohamed S. Siddique
• Ann L. Silverman
• Michael J. Simoff
• Michael Simon
• Stanford A. Singer
• Thomas L. Slovis
• Wilbur L. Smith, Jr.
• Herbert C. Smitherman, Jr.
• Jack D. Sobel
• Robert J. Sokol
• Sandeep Sood
• James Richard Spears
• Lisa B. Speck
• Daniel Stewart
• Ronald C. Strickler
• Manuel E. Tancer
• Muthayipalayam Thirumoorthi
• Rodrigo Tobar, Jr.
• Alexandros Tselis
• Gerald E. Turlo
• Andrew T. Turrisi III
• Joseph Primo Uberti
• Manuel Valdivieso
• Marnix van Holsbeeck
• Gregory P. Van Stavern
• Renee Bailey Vanstavern
• Craig Watson
• Wayne Douglas Weaver
• Donald W. Weaver
• Elliott Weinhouse
• Jayne S. Weiss
• Wilhelmine Wiese-Rometsch
• Daniel J. Wilhelm
• Sheryl A. Wissman
• Barry Wolf
• Ching-yee Oliver Wong
• Antoinette J. (Toni) Wozniak
• Ernest Yoder
• George Yoo
• Edward Zoratti

The School of Medicine’s new Medical Education Research Scholars Program is strengthening teaching and medical education research skills.

The program, under the direction of Patrick Bridge, Ph.D., assistant dean for Evaluation, Student Information and Education Research, seeks to improve teaching and education research by having participants learn education and research strategies.

“The applicants are actually studying the theory behind education and medical education research,” Dr. Bridge explained. “They are receiving access to medical education research. They learn how to teach, how to evaluate curricula, and educational theory.”

Twenty faculty members applied for the inaugural program’s five openings. The finalists were selected by the Medical Education Research Leadership Committee. All enrollees are junior faculty members at the assistant professor level. They are educators, though they may have not received formal education in teaching.

The applicants receive $11,000 in salary support for their commitment to the one-year training program. Training consists of two half-days per month for education research seminars. The participants must also develop and present an educational research project identified through the process. Dr. Bridge said his goal is that the projects become published articles.

The program was championed by Robert R. Frank, M.D., executive vice dean, and is now a key component of Vision 2011, Dean and Senior Advisor to the President for Medical Affairs Robert M. Mentzer Jr.’s plan for the School of Medicine.

“Dean Frank and Dean Mentzer had the foresight to see that this instruction would strengthen the faculty, which in turn, will help develop stronger students and physicians,” Dr. Bridge said.

The program, which launched in September, will be continued next year, said Dr. Bridge, who hopes its success serves as a catalyst for permanent continuation.

The enrollees -- from Surgery, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Genetics and Family Medicine -- have praised both the program and the instructors. Dr. Bridge said the five students have provided “extremely positive” feedback via immediate evaluations of each session and each presenter.

The real test, Dr. Bridge, said, will come through evaluations of the outcomes, including more effective teaching and securing grants.

Application for the next cycle of training will begin in May 2008. The program starts in September. Ideal candidates should have an M.D., Ph.D. or M.S. degree and a faculty appointment with the School of Medicine. When the Medical Education Research Leadership Committee selects enrollees, it considers the applicants’ education responsibilities, personal goals toward enhancing their careers in medical education research, and support from the department chair.